


keep away from the light

by kyouyaed



Series: lay that pistol down, babe [6]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Fallout 4 AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 11:42:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9489623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyouyaed/pseuds/kyouyaed
Summary: **Red Harvest put his gun away. “I have turned my back on all that I know. I will come with you.”Of all the things Billy knew he would encounter in the Commonwealth, this was one he'd hoped to avoid.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is unedited. i will edit when i can. please, enjoy!

Billy had long since become disenchanted with the Commonwealth. In the beginning, well, _his_ beginning, what little he could remember, Billy remembered being in love with the idea of _anything_ as long as it wasn't the Institute. He remembered white walls, cold shoulders, being ordered around, and he remembered knowing that there had to be more to life than servitude under men and women who looked at him with disdain. But the Commonwealth was not what Billy had imagined it would be. There was so much chaos, so much fighting. Billy didn't miss the pseudo-peace of the Institute, but the discord definitely snapped Billy out of whatever romantic notions he might have dreamed up of the world.

If Billy had been the same naïve synth from years ago, the same synth who blindly accepted anyone's help, he would have been surprised to be accosted by Raiders in between Saugus Ironworks and Dunwich Borers. He was not, however, and was the first to react out of the group he was traveling with.

The lead Raider took a knife to the throat, whatever he'd been going to yell lost in a disgusting gargle of spit and blood, and Billy jumped at the other oncoming Raiders. He distantly registered Goody calling after him to be alert and several gunshots following from different guns. Billy changed his course to a Raider trying to swerve around their group when Horne, because it could have only been Horne, threw a Molotov cocktail. It arced impressively into the mass of Raiders and Billy dove at his new target who shrieked and jumped back. Billy easily rolled in a somersault and pulled out a knife in the same motion, the stab to the Raider's stomach swift and fluid. Billy ripped the blade out and swiped upward in a brutal thrust, blood spraying out over him.

He scrunched his nose and moved away from the Raider's collapsed body. Another Raider flew at him, the side of her armor smoking. Billy smirked at the sight; as much as he hated Molotov cocktails in general, they were fantastic on his side. The Raider spat curses and swung her pool cue at him. With such a long weapon, it was easy for Billy to duck. The Raider seemed to take that into account, though, and she kicked out, foot finding purchase on Billy's chest. He fell back, gasping for breath, and the Raider surged forward. She tossed her pool cue aside and pinned Billy to the ground with her own weight. Before she could so much as punch him, and before Billy could pull himself together to stab her, a bullet shot through her, temple to temple and then off into the trees.

Billy wheezed when she collapsed on him and struggled under her dead weight. He let out a sigh of relief when he got her off of him and rushed to his feet, still wheezing but in fighting condition. He spun around in an easy move and adjusted his grip on his bloodied blade, prepared to launch himself into the fray. Instead, he froze at the sight that greeted him.

Like Billy, the others in the group were frozen at the edges of the fight, Raiders laid to waste at their feet. All of their eyes were trained on the figure in the center, and Billy could hear his own heart pounding, could feel it in his mouth and fingers and toes. The Raiders had been reduced to pure gore, but the person in the middle seemed relatively untouched by the mess. None of that surprised Billy, though. The form fitting black coat that fanned out at the bottom spoke volumes of what, exactly, the person was. Billy quickly looked around, easily locating Goody relatively close to him, close enough to protect if he needed to. Goody met his gaze and minutely shook his head, but that seemed to be enough for the one in the center because he lifted his arm and aimed his gun at Goody. He cocked the gun, and Billy gritted his teeth as he debated if he could move quicker than the trigger could be pulled.

“State your name,” the man -no, the _Courser_ \- spoke in that monotone that every Courser was known for. Billy had never encountered a Courser that knew how to speak in anything but that flat voice and he hated it. “State. Your. Name.” His voice became forceful and he gestured his hand at Goody. Billy shifted his feet, intent on moving to Goody's side, when the Courser turned his gun on Billy instead. “You...” Even from a distance, Billy felt the Courser surveying him, picking him apart.

“Hey.” It was Sam who finally spoke up, both hands raised in surrender, and the Courser trained his gun on their apparently fearless leader. “We aren't here to cause you any harm, Mr...” He trailed off and motioned his hands forward a little to gesture at the Courser to speak.

The Courser didn't answer immediately. “I am designation X7... No...” The Courser trailed off and lowered his gun. Billy eyed him warily; Coursers spouted off their designations like nobody's business. Hell, _all_ synths did. Billy had, for the longest time, only responded to his designation that he'd clung to after he escaped the Institute. He hadn't hung around the Railroad long enough for them to rename him, and the only thing he'd had was his designation. (Now, for the life of him, Billy couldn't remember who he was before Goody found him and saved him.) The Courser spoke again, drawing Billy back to the present. “Red Harvest. My name is Red Harvest. Now. State your names.”

Sam took a small step forward and said, “Red Harvest... My name is Sam Chisolm, and these are my companions.” He gestured with one hand to the rest of them and introduced them all. “We didn't come here to start any fights. Just passin' through.”

Red Harvest studied them silently, and Billy had to fight off the instinct to turn tail and run. Coursers were to be feared, everything in Billy told him that much. He knew, just from the few interactions he'd had with some in the Institute, that they weren't to be trifled with. A single Courser could take on an army. Six wayward men who didn't know how to work together couldn't possibly dream of taking on Red Harvest if he decided they were a threat to be eliminated.

“Where?” Red Harvest asked. Sam looked at him helplessly, and Red Harvest snapped, “Where are you passing to?”

“Ah,” Sam replied with a nod. “A small community just outside of Diamond City. We have business there and Mr. Horne here was just escortin' us passed the Ironworks.”

“Run awful close to Dunwich Borers though, didn't we?” Faraday muttered, flinching when Red Harvest set his gaze on him. “Fuckin' Raiders and now goddamn _Coursers_. I'm beginnin' to think takin' up with you ain't nothing but trouble, Sam Chisolm.”

This seemed to pique Red Harvest's interest, because he asked, “Have you run into much trouble?”

Vasquez snorted. “We had to fight a Deathclaw to get his,” Vasquez nodded toward Horne with a disdainful look on his face, “attention. I was chased by Super Mutants before I took up with Chisolm. He seems to be quite the trouble magnet.”

“I see...” Red Harvest's gaze swept over the others before it came to settle on Billy. “Synth. What is your designation?”

Billy flexed his fingers around the knife still in his hand and he narrowed his eyes. Before he could answer defiantly, Goody said, “His name's Billy.” The defiance Billy felt in his gut was reflected clearly in Goody's eyes and a small smirk settled on Billy's face as he looked back to Red Harvest. The Courser's gaze was piercing and cold and Billy felt like it was dissecting him where he stood. He repressed a shudder, not wanting Red Harvest to know how much he affected Billy.

“As X7-33, I would be required to take you in,” Red Harvest stated, and Goody very obviously leveled his gun at Red Harvest. “I am no longer that designation.” He stopped speaking as if that explained everything, though he didn't take his gaze from Billy.

“Wait,” Faraday said. “So... You ain't with the Institute then?” Red Harvest's face seemed to darken at that, but he didn't actually answer. “Shit, okay then... Jeez.” Faraday shook his head and said to Sam in a harsh voice that sounded like it was meant to be a whisper but failed entirely, “This guy's fucking weird. Can we go now?”

Billy rolled his eyes, and Sam let out an exasperated laugh. “Whisper next time,” Sam said, before he spoke to Red Harvest who finally looked away from Billy to focus on Sam's words. “I think we've established ourselves as a non-threat to you, Red Harvest. May we pass?”

In the moments it took Red Harvest to answer, Billy felt terror bubble in his gut. Was it going to be this easy? Or was Red Harvest actually designation X7-33, trying to lull them into a false sense of security before he took them out? He didn't seem to be lying, but that was the thing with Coursers. They were deadly, monotonous things with poker faces for days. Even though he himself was a synth, Billy Rocks had nothing on a Courser. He flexed his fingers around the knife in his hand again and hoped he wouldn't have to use it against Red Harvest.

“Allow me to join you,” Red Harvest said, and Faraday let out a loud laugh. Billy sent him a cutting look but Faraday was far too busy laughing to notice.

Sam answered, even as Faraday continued to laugh at his side. “We all might end up dying.” Sam raised an eyebrow. “Even you. Are you sure about this?”

Red Harvest nodded and put his gun away. “I have turned my back on all that I know. I will come with you.” He seemed to visibly hesitate before adding on, “I can lead you to Diamond City from here with little enemy encounter.”

At that, Vasquez seemed to perk up. “Excellent! Then we have no need for _cobarde_ , correct? Red Harvest can lead us, and _cobarde_ can go back to his forest.” Vasquez shot Sam a grin so feral it was all teeth and Sam closed his eyes for a few long seconds.

“He is right, Mr. Horne,” Sam said. “You brought us this far, which was very charitable on your part, but having a Courser means we have no need for your tracking anymore. We aren't your responsibility any longer, Mr. Horne.” Billy set his gaze on Horne and looked away when he seemed to be relieved by Sam's words.

“I wish you safe travels,” Horne said. Without waiting for anyone to say anything in return, Horne backed away from them all and seemed to vanish into the cluster of trees they'd hiked through earlier.

It was Goody who broke the quiet of Horne's departure. “I thought he...” Goody pressed his lips together and Billy quickly moved to his side after putting away the knife he was glad he didn't have to use again. Goody looked to Billy with sadness in his eyes. “War ruins even the best of men, doesn't it, Billy?” Billy frowned.

“Some men are not built for the struggles of war,” he murmured. “He survived. That might be all he can do now.”

“He may have lost more than we know, Goody,” Sam said. “We shouldn't judge.”

“Speak for yourself,” Vasquez snapped. “We are better off without him weighing us down. We have wasted too much time on him as it is.”

“The synth is correct,” spoke Red Harvest, and Billy tensed, glaring up at him. “Humans are fragile creatures. You are not built for war. Inevitably, it takes a toll.” Red Harvest gazed at them, eyes lingering on Billy for a few seconds longer than everyone else.

In the silence that fell after Red Harvest's contribution, Goody reached out and rubbed his thumb over Billy's cheek, pulling his hand away to reveal a fine coat of blood and dirt. He smiled at his thumb, and then outright laughed when he looked up at Billy who couldn't even imagine what a sight he must look. Goody's laugh drew the attention of the other four and Billy simply sighed.

“Before we move on, let's get cleaned up,” Goody suggested. “We can worry about Mr. Horne and the thoughts that plague humanity later. Billy here is right filthy.”

“There's water somewhere,” Sam muttered, glancing around them as if that would point him to the source of the water. “Painfully close to the Ironworks, though. Really ought to avoid that...”

“Eh, we can just cut back through here later, Sam,” Faraday chimed. “Or just skirt the Ironworks. The Forged won't even know we're there if we slip right under their noses. And face it, Billy is in quite a state. Might scare off our mysterious boss if we show up with him lookin' like _he's_ the Courser here, and not Red over there.”

Sam laughed. “Fine, fine. Find us a road, Faraday.”

Faraday's face fell but he turned back the way they came to lead them toward a potential road. Sam and Vasquez followed first, then Goody. Billy lingered, though, eyeing Red Harvest warily as the Courser trailed after the four more obnoxious of their group. Red Harvest stopped as he passed Billy and they locked eyes for a few quick seconds. Red Harvest tipped his head to the side, and Billy again felt like the Courser was trying to pick him apart with just his eyes.

"Designation R6-25," Red Harvest said flatly. "That is your designation, is it not?"

Billy hissed through his teeth and pressed a hand to his head when a sharp pain went through him. Memories flickered across his brain, several chaotic and incoherent, some just static, but a few with faces Billy recognized but couldn't place. When the pain passed, Red Harvest was gone, and Billy was alone with a strange influx of memories that he was sure hadn't been there before, though there was quite a bit of his time in the Institute he didn't remember. It was an Institute fail-safe, he knew, but he never expected a random Courser to trigger the fail-safe...

“Billy!” Goody's voice cut into this thoughts. “Come on, now! Let's go!”

Billy frowned and moved through the grass and toward Goody, pushing the memories from his mind for the moment in favor of focusing on the grinning man waiting for him.

**Author's Note:**

> the gang was all here... and then not. don't worry, though, i have some plans for Horne ^^ plans for, well... everyone, really.  
> DID Y'ALL SEE RED HARVEST BEING A COURSER OR WHAT!!!! it took me FOREVER to decide this but... it sort of seems fitting. ([here's](http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Courser) the fallout wiki entry on Coursers!) also, Scavenger Vasquez just does not like ex-Enclave Horne. i intend for cobarde to come across as Vasquez's... not pet name, per se, but mean nickname for Horne.
> 
> i have so much planned for this au, i'm so excited to share this entire concept with all of you!! the next few chapters are gonna be side chapters similar to Bogue's lil bit cause there's stuff i wanna expand on before we start getting really deep in the plot, but the stuff will feel out of place in a super plotty chapter.
> 
> also [here](http://fallout4map.com/?location=166) is Saugus Ironworks and [here](http://fallout4map.com/?location=188) is Dunwich Borers. they are traveling somewhere between the two, just a little bit closer to Dunwich than Saugus but still annoyingly close to both. ngl i hate both places. i try to studiously avoid them when i play fallout 4 (also Dunwich Borers is just plain creepy).
> 
> as always, please let me know what you think either via the comments or hit me up on [tumblr](http://bcrebonecredence.tumblr.com/).


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